business@tribunemedia.net
MONDAY, MARCH 27, 2017
$4.10 Aliv takes 100 site options as BTC âPlan Aâ By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net Aliv will ârevert to Plan Aâ and execute 100 mobile network site options if it cannot reach agreement with the Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC) within a reasonable time period. Damian Blackburn, Alivâs top executive, told Tribune Business that the new mobile operator and BTC were âvery closeâ to sealing agreements essential for its network roll-out and nationwide service delivery. Besides agreeing commercial terms for permitting Aliv to âroamâ on BTCâs network, the two mobile rivals also have to conclude a deal on âco-locationâ and facilities sharing. The latter involves BTC and Aliv sharing the same mobile tower sites and other network facilities, particularly on the Family Islands. And the third, and final, âpiece of the jigsawâ from Alivâs perspective is a transmission agreement that would see BTCâs subsea cable network carry its call traffic. Mr Blackburn, in an interview with Tribune Business, hinted that Alivâs
â98% of way thereâ on key agreements with BTC Rivalâs top executive hints at talks impatience New player eyes âmaterialâ network finish in 2017
Alivâs top executive has thrown down a challenge to the Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC), saying he sees nothing in its product offerings worth imitating. Damian Blackburn, signalling the intensifying competition between the new mobile operator and its incumbent rival, told Tribune Business: âImitation is the sincerest form of flattery, and so far weâve seen no need to imitate them.â Mr Blackburnâs comments came as he laid out Alivâs plans for seizing a 47 per cent mobile market share within three years, saying that the company
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Unions: Fine stubborn employers $5,000 daily By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net Trade unions want companies to be hit with a $5,000 per day fine if they fail to start industrial agreement talks within 45 days, with one leader urging employers to accept âfull responsibilityâ for the worker-friendly reforms being imposed upon them. The latest batch of Employment and Industrial Relations Act reforms recommended by the unions, which have been seen by Tribune Business, would - if passed - affect all employees in a unionised workplace regardless of whether they are members of the bargaining
Want enforcement teeth on 45-day agreement talks TUC chief: Employers can only blame themselves Seek 90% dues deduct from nonunionised workers Obie Ferguson unit. The joint March 23 proposal from the Trades Union Congress (TUC) and National Congress of Trade Unions (NCTU) calls for the imposition of âagency
shopâ conditions, where salary deductions equivalent to 90 per cent of union dues are taken from non-union members in the same workplace to cover âcollective bargainingâ costs.
Obie Ferguson, the Trades Union Congressâs (TUC)president, told Tribune Business that âa certain number of employersâ had only themselves to blame for the Governmentâs renewed bid to impose statutory controls on workplace relations. He accused the private sector of âraising hellâ only after bringing problems upon itself, pointing to the failure of both the Sandals and Melia resorts to honour what he described as conventional practice governing employer-union relations. Mr Ferguson also questioned why Bahamian employers were âso See pg b6
FNM candidate confesses to $10k, 15-year tax debt Damian Blackburn patience had already been stretched in negotiations with BTC to tie down these agreements, and their commercial terms. See pg b4
Top Aliv exec: BTC has nothing worth copying By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
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Nth Eleuthera nominee pledges to pay in full today âCompletely forgotâ 2013 Customs settlement Case raises question on Customs enforcement
By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
The FNMâs North Eleuthera candidate yesterday took âfull responsibilityâ for his failure to settle a 15 year-old debt worth $9,500 to Bahamas Customs, and pledged to pay the full amount outstanding today. Rickey Mackey told Tribune Business he had âcom-
pletely forgottenâ about the settlement agreement he made with the Customs Department in mid-2013, relating to $12,789 in outstanding import duties owed by his company since June 2002. Mr Mackey made one $3,197 payment to the Public Treasury, via RBCâs Harbour Island branch, in April 2013 but left around $9,500 due and owing until exposed by his political op-
ponents this weekend. Bradley Roberts, the Progressive Liberal Partyâs (PLP) chairman, told his partyâs campaign rally at Hatchet Bay: âThe FNM candidate for North Eleuthera, Howard âRickeyâ Mackey, to-date owes the Bahamas government thousands of dollars in Customs duties which he committed in writing to pay, but has failed to do so.â See pg b5
New mobile firm throws down gauntlet to incumbent Says Bahamians just had taste of what it can offer Believes entrance will grow mobile market had to-date given Bahamians just a taste of its capabilities. He told this newspaper that Aliv was focused on developing services, and applications, âto make the See pg b6
Employers wait anxiously on labour law revisions By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net Bahamian employers were last night anxiously awaiting the revised draft labour law reforms, the Chamberâs chairman acknowledging that the private sector needed to provide âempirical evidenceâ earlier in the consultation process. Gowon Bowe told Tribune Business that the private sector, including the Chamber and the hotel industry, had fulfilled their obligation to submit recommendations and data to the
Chamber chief: Hard data was needed earlier Private sector has âto acceptâ wonât get everything Stresses need for âequilibriumâ on amendments Government by the agreed deadline, and were now awaiting the final revised See pg b7
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